Pension on a £32,000 salary — above-median, ramp it up.

£32,000 puts you slightly above the UK median full-time wage. At this salary you pay around £3,886 in income tax and £1,554 in employee NI per year. You're well within the basic rate band, so every £1 of pension contribution gets you 25% added by HMRC (under relief at source) or saves you 28% combined tax and NI (under salary sacrifice). The most useful framing at this band: a £100/month contribution costs you only £72/month after basic rate relief, and grows to roughly £85,000 over 30 years at 5% net. Doubling that to £200/month costs £144/month after relief and produces a pot of around £170,000. The disproportionate value of getting your contribution rate up while you're still in the basic rate band is that you build the habit before you start earning enough to feel the cost.